LONDON, Feb. 3 (UPI) -- Business Secretary Peter Mandelson told Britain's House of Lords that strikes over imported labor at a Total oil refinery were unjustified.
Workers from Italy and Portugal have sparked wildcat strikes at various energy facilities throughout Britain. But, "the great majority of the workers (at the site) are actually British, so clearly no policy of discrimination or exclusion of British nationals is being operated at the refinery," Mandelson said, The Daily Telegraph reported Tuesday.
He later told a reporter to "stop feeding this xenophobia."
However, Mario Saraceno, managing director of IREN, the Italian company working on the refinery project, said it was "absolutely necessary to send to England our specialized workers."
A four-month deadline meant language barriers would have interfered with the "close-knit team that could communicate with each other," Saraceno said.
He said 30 British workers were hired for the $285 million project.
With Mandelson's comments, political divisions erupted and strikes continued, the Telegraph said.
Health Secretary Alan Johnson, a former union leader, called for Britain to renegotiate labor rules with the European Union.
Britain has also dispatched its ambassador in Rome to tell the Italian government that Italian workers wouldn't suffer from discrimination.
